You Were In My Once Upon A Time
by Memorabilia
Summary: A bond between friends, a seperation of mind, a shadow of darkness, lost in thought, Rika knows she belongs in the light, but why does the dark seem so....
1. Restless Even In Thoughts

You Were In My Once Upon A Time.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Dragon Ball Z, GT, whatever, I just borrow the characters for my stories.  
  
Prologue.  
"Rika Nonaka, age one and 4, relying on darkness of the cold." Rika said quietly, or what she thought. She looked at the blank pages of her journal, which her mother tried to give her. The pages were blank, like her happiness, like most of her emotions, except for her ever restless anger, rage, confusion, sadness.The dark black journal told the whole story of Rika's life just by looking at the cover, she was surrounded by darkness. The covering, front and back of the book surrounded the enclosed, empty pages of paper. Rika thought again. "Rika Nonaka, one and four, drove by self ambition of my fears." These all fit her description, Rika thought.  
  
"Rika, what are you doing?" Rika's mother asked, sliding Rika's bedroom door open. Rika growled and closed her journal and placed it on her lap.  
  
"I'm writing, mom. Get out, it's private." Rika said, her anger hiding behind her teeth. Rika's mother just beamed.  
  
"Oh my, it's about a boy, isn't it?" She asked in happiness. Rika put on a fake smile and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, you could say that." Rika smiled and then the smile dropped into a dead frown. "Now get out." Rika's mother looked hurt but perked it up with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, I have to make supper anyway."  
  
"That's Grandma's job." Rika muttered and watched as Rika's mother closed the door and Rika opened her journal again, her empty journal. The pages skimmed across Rika's thumb as Rika opened the book and Rika glanced down at the first page and Rika started to write. By the time she was done, the first page was full of writing, neat, italic writing, and yet negative writing. She scanned the page, the one that stuck out the most was."Rika Nonaka, one and four, locked in the cold, Rika Nonaka, one and four, alone under the ice." That's all it was, but Rika found it too true. As Rika slammed the book shut and threw it across the room, Rika heard the phone ring, in amongst the slamming of the phone on the wall.  
  
"Got it," Rika's grandmother exclaimed. Short rustling outside the room and then the door slid open to reveal Rika's grandmother. "Rika, dear, it's for you."  
  
"Got it, grandma," Rika said and grabbed her cordless phone on her table and pushed the talk button, "hello?"  
  
"Hey Rika!" Came the ever-so familiar voice.  
  
"Hey goggle head."  
  
"Rika, it's been two years since the D-Reaper appeared and got destroyed and we haven't seen each other in-"  
  
"Are you asking me out on a date, because if it is, you'll have to reason it out with my fist!" Rika commanded. Takato laughed nervously on the other end.  
  
"No, I'm not asking you out on a date, no one is." He paused and Rika waited indeed impatiently for Takato to finish talking.  
  
"Spill it, goggle head!"  
  
"Alright, the gang was wondering-"  
  
"Which gang?"  
  
"Me, Kazu, Henry and Ryo, were wondering if all of the tamers could get together and go for a camping trip or something this weekend. We'd all go into the woods and stuff and."  
  
"And what? Spill."  
  
"And, we were wondering if you want to come, for old times sake!" Kazu shouted in the background. Rika listened closer as Takato laughed and pretended to fight with Kazu, but also in the background, there were more noises.  
  
"Is the TV on or something?"  
  
"No, why?" Kazu asked or yelled from the background, which made Rika a little, annoyed.  
  
"There's lots of noise going on back there." Rika groaned.  
  
"Lots of noise? Oh yeah." Jeri's voice came onto the line, Takato gave a grunt of surprise.  
  
"Jeri, I didn't expect you to be on the other line." Takato said, as Jeri laughed full of heart. Rika felt confused, Jeri and Kazu were there?  
  
"Hey, Rika! I miss you." Jeri's voice melted into Rika's ear.  
  
"Yeah, I miss you too, but what's going on?"  
  
"Oh, Takato wanted to invite you to come to a weekend of camping."  
  
"I know that much, but who else is over there?" Rika wanted to know. Takato groaned and Jeri waited patiently for Takato's answer. But, words needn't be said, for in the background were shouted samplings of what Rika wanted to know.  
  
"Ryo Akiyama, give me back my glasses!" Kenta.  
  
"Kazumon, give me your bread!" Guilmon.  
  
"Henry, I'm hungry." Suzi.  
  
"Momentai." Terriermon.  
  
"Guilmon, give Kazu back his bread!" Henry.  
  
"This is confusing, who wants the bread more, Guilmon or Kazu?" Kazu's digimon, whoever that was, Rika couldn't remember.  
  
"Hey, Takato, could you tell me where Suzi is?" Lopmon.  
  
"Hey everyone, lets eat cream puffs! I love cream puffs, someone come play with me!" Calumon.  
  
"Takato, say hi to Wild Cat for me!" Ryo.  
  
"Ryo, give me back my glasses!" Kenta again.  
  
"Everyone's there, huh?" Rika asked.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you could say its one big party house." Takato said nervously.  
  
"One of wisdom should choose the wiser, in other words, Guilmon, let go of the bread and let the human devour it, if the human chooses wisest, he will share with you." Leomon.  
  
"Everyone except for you and Renamon are here, so come on over, we're staying at Takato's for a week until we go camping, then we're kind of splitting up." Jeri explained.  
  
"Yeah, come on over." Takato explained and hung up the phone. Rika had no time to answer him.  
  
"I'm still here, Rika." Jeri offered. "Are you okay, because you don't sound so confident as Guilmon."  
  
"Yeah, I'm okay, Jeri, I think, I'm not sure if I'll come tonight."  
  
"Of course you are, Rika! From the sounds of it, Ryo is coming to pick you up, or that's what Takato is saying."  
  
"I guess I could come, but I really don't want to." Rika groaned.  
  
"I know how you feel, let Ryo come pick you up and I'll talk to you at the party."  
  
"Okay, whatever, should I bring Renamon?"  
  
"Sure, sure." Jeri offered and hung up. Rika hung up too and groaned for the hundredth time that evening.  
  
"Are things ever going to change?" She asked herself as she settled right into the shadows drifting around her lonely secluded bedroom. 


	2. Author's Note

All right, Author's Note  
Alright, a BIG author's note here, coming to you from The-Dragon's-Silence.  
  
I'm totally new at this whole FanFiction thing, okay, so you have to give me a break.  
  
Send me reviews, send opinions, send flames, whatever, but if they're flames, I probably won't read them.  
  
I'm trying to give back the joy of reading this stuff like you have me, so please give my writing some time to open up and stuff, I've got lots of good ideas to show you but its hard when people keep sending me flames.  
  
Alright, FanFiction, does that sound odd? Well, fan fiction, think about it, it means its not real, its fiction, it doesn't have to follow a specific story line and apparently, the first review or flame I got, it went all out on how it doesn't fit the exact show. Well, it's a story! Give it a chance, it doesn't have to go your way or this way, right now, its going my way!  
  
If you don't like the way I write, don't read my stories unless you get interested. If you don't like the way I put things, put in your opinion in a review and see if I acknowledge your thoughts, hopefully I will, unless it says mix up the couplings, unless you've put it in an interesting way. If you don't like anything to do with me, keep opinions to yourself and remember that I'm not the only one who might disgust you.  
  
Remember this, I'll respect your values if you respect mine. I know, corny and lame, but just keep it in mind, because I know I will.  
  
Thanks  
  
The-Dragon's-Silence 


	3. Revisioning

You Were In My Once Upon A Time  
  
Chapter 2: Revisioning  
  
Rika woke with a start as she shot straight up from the surface of her bed and leaned on her elbows on her mattress. "Holy crap, that has got to be a bad dream, Ryo Akiyama, the, "Legendary Tamer", coming to help me? Man, how deluded was that." Rika sighed as she got her heart rate back to normal as she looked over to her clock. It was 2:47 in the morning.  
  
Rika woke up again, but now at 7:00, she still felt groggy from her early awakening but got up anyway and decided to walk to the kitchen where her grandmother would be. Rika got dressed quickly into her school uniform and walked to the kitchen to see her grandmother making tea over the stove. Rika walked up to her grandmother and hugged her quickly. "Good morning."  
  
"Good morning, Rika, how are you?"  
  
"I'm good, grandma, what's for breakfast?"  
  
"Whatever you want, I will make it for you."  
  
"Well, you don't have to go to all that trouble, grandma, I'll just have toast or something." Rika's grandmother carried the tea to the table and set it down on a hot pot mat, and turned to Rika and smiled her ever- warming smile.  
  
"Alright, Rika, would you like me to get it for you?"  
  
"No thanks, I'll get it, I'm strong enough, grandma."  
  
"I know, Rika, I know." Her grandmother replied and left the room. Rika smiled again, it was her grandmother that gave her her courage and strength each day, and the advice from Renamon, her friends and her mother.speaking of Renamon.  
  
"Renamon?" Rika called out and in from the shadows, Renamon appeared before Rika.  
  
"Good morning, Rika."  
  
"Hello, Renamon. Do you want some breakfast or something?"  
  
"I'm quite good, actually." Renamon nodded and turned to the tea on the table. "That smells quite good, did you make it?"  
  
"No, grandma did." Renamon nodded in approval and left the room, feeling there was nothing more to discuss with Rika at this particular moment, and Renamon always knew she could talk to Rika once she returned from school each day. With that, Rika turned and headed towards the island in the kitchen where she pulled out the toaster and started to make some toast.  
  
After school, Rika returned home to change into her normal outfit of her white shirt with the blue sleeves and the blue heart in the middle, her yellow scarf wrapped around her neck snugly, her red shoes, her blue capris, and her red wrist cuffs. Also, since Rika felt she was on a roll, she redid her spiky ponytail. As she did this, Renamon entered the room and caught Rika's attention when Rika looked into her small mirror on her dresser. "Hi, Renamon."  
  
"Hello, Rika. How was school?"  
  
"Good, I guess, still boring, but it was okay."  
  
"That's good to hear, Takato called a few minutes before you got home and he said to meet him and Henry at their school." Rika nodded as Renamon paused. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Rika smirked.  
  
"That's okay, unless you made me miss something important, no, it's okay, Renamon." Rika quickly grabbed her D-Arc and her cards and headed to the door. "I'll talk to you later, Renamon, and come if you want to."  
  
"Thank you for the invite."  
  
"No problem." Rika closed the door behind her and started running towards Takato's school. She felt the wind breeze past her, it made her feel brave. She felt the sun shining on her face, it made her feel confident. She saw the atmosphere of plants and buildings before her and she wondered how she there could be so much in this world that could tear the tranquil peace apart. Like fighting, like what she and Renamon and the group did in the real world, in the Digital World to keep alive.Rika kept her head up though and kept running until she was in the school's park and she saw Terriermon, Calumon and Guilmon up ahead. Terriermon was rolling on the grass like usual and Guilmon was eating bread and balancing Calumon on his head.  
  
"Hiya, Rika!" Calumon shouted as he jumped off Guilmon's flat head and jumped into Rika's arms. Rika caught the little guy and smiled down at him.  
  
"Hi, Calumon. Do you know where Henry and Takato are?" She asked politely. Terriermon walked over and Guilmon scrambled over to her as well.  
  
"Hello, Rika." Guilmon said in his scratchy dinosaur voice of his.  
  
"Hey, Rika!" Terriermon said as he flapped his ears slightly. Rika smiled at both digimon and waved slightly.  
  
"Hi, you guys, now, where's Takato and Henry?" She asked once again.  
  
"They're over there, by the shadows, they must be wall roses or something." Guilmon said, Terriermon laughed.  
  
"You mean wall flowers."  
  
"That's what I said." Guilmon and Terriermon started fighting and Calumon looked up confusingly as Rika scanned the grounds looking for the boys. She finally found them and started heading over there when she felt a tug on her shoe. She looked down to see a saddened Calumon.  
  
"Can't you play first?"  
  
"I can't, but I will after I talk with Henry and Takato over there." Rika said, pointing to Takato and Henry. Calumon smiled gleefully and let go of Rika's shoe, jumping up and down.  
  
"We can have cream puffs when you come back, too, and we can play hopscotch!" He smiled and Rika walked away, as she turned, Calumon was back to his old tricks, playing the balancing game on Guilmon's head with Terriermon. Rika ran over to the two boys leaning on the school walls up ahead.  
  
"Hey, Rika, glad you made it." Henry said with his ever so familiar grin. Takato smiled and waved at Rika.  
  
"Hey, Rika, I was wondering when you would show up."  
  
"Hey, goggle-head." She teased and stood in front of them. "What's going on?" Takato looked at Henry and Henry smirked back, which left Rika slightly confused. "Somebody tell me." She said quietly.  
  
"Well, we were wondering if you would like to come with us to this digimon tournament coming up and-"  
  
"Scratch that, you guys!" Kazu and Jeri said from afar. The trio turned to see two urgent looking kids running their way.  
  
"What's up?" Henry shouted to them, since the boy and girl was still half a school ground away from them.  
  
"There's another digimon in the area and he's a tough one!" Jeri shouted. Kazu nodded in agreement.  
  
"Where is he now?" Takato shouted back to them.  
  
"He's in Shinjuku Park!" (Sorry, I can't remember how to spell it.) "He's terrorizing everyone down there!" Rika looked at Takato and Henry and balled a fist and brought it up to chest height.  
  
"We're going to take this guy down!" She said in determination. "Let's go get him." The boys nodded and all three of them started running towards Jeri and Kazu. "Renamon!" Rika shouted as she was running towards Jeri and Kazu. Renamon appeared in the trees near where Guilmon, Terriermon and Calumon were still playing.  
  
"Yes, Rika?"  
  
"There's a new digimon that's going down, let's take care of him!" Rika shouted to her digimon partner. Renamon nodded and looked at Guilmon, Terriermon and Calumon.  
  
"Guilmon, little rabbit-"  
  
"I'm not a little rabbit, I'm one with attitude."  
  
"Momentai." Guilmon said enthusiastically. Terriermon looked menacingly at Guilmon.  
  
"That's what I say, dino-breath!"  
  
"Don't call me dino-breath!" Guilmon squealed and started fighting with Terriermon while Calumon sat on the sidelines, laughing.  
  
"Kids, stop fighting!" Renamon said urgently and caught all three digimon's attention. "There's a new digimon in town, let's wipe him out!" She said enthusiastically and the digimon instantly raced for their tamers.  
  
As Rika watched on, she was glad she had her partner's support in what she did, what she had to do, at that moment, not the first, but at that moment, Rika felt proud.  
  
~A Friend Wipes Away Your Tears, A Good Friend Has A Soggy Shoulder From It~ 


	4. Return of The Dark

You Were In My Once Upon A Time  
  
Chapter 3: Return of the Dark.  
  
As Rika, Takato, Henry, Kazu and Jeri ran to Shinjuku Park, there was another thing in mind that disturbed Takato's thoughts. He paused as he felt the wind brush past his hair. If this digimon is really as tough as Kazu and Jeri says he is, we'll need the rest of the group to help us out. "Rika, Henry!" Takato shouted at Henry and Rika, who stopped instantly as soon as they heard their friend's cry.  
  
"What is it, Takato?" Rika asked urgently.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" Henry asked.  
  
"If this digimon is really as touch as Kazu and Jeri say it is, then we'll need back up, we'll need the rest of the group." Rika nodded in agreement.  
  
"Takato's right, alright, what's the plan here? We have to get to Shinjuku Park obviously, but we'll need to get the rest of the group." Henry said, mixing his words around in the logical way he does. Rika nodded in agreement and brought up her fist again to chest height.  
  
"We can do this," Rika said quickly, "Takato, you and Guilmon go ahead and contact everyone, Henry, go home and get Suzi, she may come in handy when we need her, me, Kazu and Jeri will meet you at Shinjuku Park if I'm not already fighting the digimon." Henry seemed hesitant but Takato quickly threw a word in, showing support for what Rika had to say.  
  
"Alright, we'll go now, you take care of yourself until we get there, we can't afford to loose a team member now." He said firmly and took off without Guilmon. Once he realized his mistake, he turned around quickly to see Guilmon staring off into space right behind Rika and Henry, into the midst of trees, grass and buildings of stone. "Come on, Guilmon, let's go!" Guilmon didn't move from his ground, but cranked his head to the side and growled slightly. Rika and Henry looked at each other nervously.  
  
"Takato, what is that behind Rika and Henry?" Rika and Henry instantly whirled around and Takato and Guilmon dove for their friend's backs. Renamon, who had hidden herself in the shadows of the trees, jumped in front of Rika as something jumped from the bush behind Rika. Terriermon dove in front of Henry but Takato instantly became confused in Guilmon's proposition, because the bush ruffled only once, but no one came out, even though it sounded so.  
  
"What's going on here, boy?" Takato asked slowly as he saw Guilmon continue to growl. Terriermon laughed nervously to break the silence.  
  
"Momentai?" He offered nervously.  
  
"It's not working this time, Terriermon." Henry replied sadly and glanced at Takato.  
  
"He's getting us worried for nothing, we should just continue on what we were supposed to do." Henry said and walked off, followed closely by Terriermon. Guilmon's growl died and he looked up sadly at Takato.  
  
"I wasn't joking, Takato, there as something there and it was bigger than a squirrel." Rika offered a sympathetic look for Guilmon, but he never accepted. Takato patted Guilmon's back.  
  
"I know, Guilmon. Henry's just jumpy, I guess, with this new digimon walking around." It was for once that Rika and Takato noticed that Jeri and Kazu were no longer with them. Rika looked around nervously and shot a look back at Takato.  
  
"Where's Jeri?" Rika asked quickly. Takato jumped out of his calm state and looked around eagerly.  
  
"Jeri? Kazu, where's Kazu?" Takato asked. Guilmon cranked his head to the side.  
  
"Didn't you see it?" Guilmon said so quietly, but it the words still hung in the air around Rika. The words stung her like nothing else could have.  
  
"What do you mean, did you see it?" Takato and Rika asked in unison, it scared them that they hadn't noticed two of the most obvious people not in their group had vanished without any of them knowing, except a digimon who can't get his words straight, or his growl.  
  
"I didn't see it, but I felt it." Came Renamon's serene voice from beside Rika. Rika jumped slightly, she was so quiet, she forgot that her partner was still beside her but fortunately, no one noticed.  
  
"What did you feel, Renamon?" Rika asked concerningly. "What did you sense?" Renamon turned to the bush where Guilmon was supposedly growling. She paused for a moment and bowed her head, closed her eyes and sighed. Takato didn't dare to break her concentration, so he looked at Rika and whispered the words: I'm-Going-To-Go-Get-Henry-And-The-Others-Meet-Us-At- Shinjuku and walked off. Rika nodded and gazed at Renamon in concentration. After a minute or two, Renamon returned Rika's gaze.  
  
"I felt negative energy surpassing the positives in this area, it felt dark, it felt secluded and cold. It felt like the time when we were fighting IceDevimon." Renamon answered slowly, knowing that this once was a touchy subject and hoped it shouldn't be. Rika nodded in acknowledgement and stared off into that space in thought.  
  
"Would that mean that IceDevimon is back?"  
  
"I would doubt that Rika, just because I sensed something that feels that way, doesn't mean it isn't him or it is, I was just saying what I felt." Rika nodded again in admiration for Renamon, she always knew what to say at the right time. It all came flushing back to Rika when Renamon said few words, bringing Rika to reality. "It was odd because it seemed like Jeri and Kazu made no struggle, or that's what it felt like, like they willingly went along with this."  
  
Rika felt her determination and devastation run back. Time wasn't exactly being wasted, just being used up and no one has encountered the digimon yet, and the problem of two missing tamers hasn't been solved, or the way Renamon or Guilmon reacted today. She swallowed every bit of fear she had inside of her and replaced it with courage, faith, hope and determination that whatever had to be done, will be done without harming anyone except the digimon in the process. "Standing around here won't help us get Kazu or Jeri back, and it certainly won't help the others know what the new digimon is like, we'd better get to Shinjuku Park without any more interruptions." Rika said quickly and took off running again, trying to forget her delays and focusing on what was ahead of her.  
  
It was shadows, all shadows, that's all Shinjuku Park was in Rika's eyes, it was all shadows. Looming ahead was a great sphere of darkness, swirling and changing the park into some kind of dark chamber of demonic darkness. Rika breathed in all that was happening in one gulp of air and almost choked on how much she took in. The trees, they became crooked and leafless in the shadows enveloping them. The bark took on a deformed look and gave off very forbidding looks. The grass, it grew long and shriveled into blades of dead crisp arms, it was like an army as it fell across the lands of Shinjuku Park.  
  
The usually blue sky turned into a sickening slate gray, mixing in with the blacks and purples of reflections coming of the overly large egg in the middle of the park. Renamon stuck stiffly by Rika's side, watching over Rika. Rika looked ahead into the park and she realized she had made no motion to move. All she did was try to hold in the emotions flowing inside of her. "This is crazy, look at this place, it looks dead."  
  
"I know, it's deprived of light."  
  
"What?"  
  
"There's a digimon inside that egg, growing ever so strong until it can block out all of the sun's rays and turn the world into a cold, lonesome, dead atmosphere of dead organisms and cold winds, ice, darkness all in all." Renamon said slowly.  
  
Rika felt fascinated yet sickened at the same time, what digimon would deprive the world of things so beautiful? She needed a closer look into this world, she needed information on this digimon, if she just had a closer look.  
  
"Can we go in there? I mean, there's plainly a barrier keeping this shadow dimension all in Shinjuku Park, but can we enter?" Rika asked, eager to solve this mystery of the ever dividing chamber between the light and dark, good and possibly evil. Renamon shook her head.  
  
"It seems, I've sensed that it might be harder for digimon to enter than humans, for if this is where Kazu and Jeri are, then who would bring them to a place if it meant giving them a hard time to enter?" Renamon asked slowly, Rika seemed to understand, but there was this powerful will inside of her, curiosity, determination, faith and mystery that seemed to pull her towards the barrier.  
  
"Renamon, I'm going in." She turned to Renamon, who seemed displeased to say the least.  
  
"It can bring you great harm, Rika. I would desire if you would stay on this side until the other tamers get here." Renamon requested, which made Rika feel upset but decided not to go against Renamon's wishes. But the power to go and immerge herself into this shadow stereotype was too powerful, as if against her will and Rika walked slowly and slowly into the barrier of shadows, failing to acknowledge Renamon's cries of warning and despair.  
  
What divides us from good from evil is a very thin line..~ 


	5. Enchantment Of The Mind Forgot it on st...

You Were In My Once Upon A Time  
  
Chapter 4: .  
  
Renamon's heart raced at an exceeding pace. Rika, she could loose her now, she was walking straight into the heart of the darkness, into the whirlpool of shadows. Renamon rushed forward only to be propelled back like a magnet. Rika, her tamer, her friend, was dissolving into the darkness enveloping her. As Renamon watched on in desperation, she noticed the atmosphere grow just a little bit darker, the grass just a little bit longer, the trees a little more monstrous and the surface of this shadow world, collecting with ice.  
  
Rika heard nothing, felt nothing except the coldness of the shadow barrier as she extended her arm and touched the barrier with her fingertips. The barrier vaporized before her, opening a crevasse for this girl. The shadows pulled back, allowing her to pass by them slowly, freely. Her mind became blank and same with her thoughts. Her eyes resembled a sheet of ice and her body moved as slow as a turtle's.  
  
The barrier opened up more, as if it wanted to welcome her into this world, this sheet of shadows. Rika looked ahead and noticed she was almost through this barrier, almost into the dark chamber that was embedded in the heart of this chamber. Suddenly, as if she broke out of her trance, yet the curiosity and the mystery and enchantment embedded in her mind, she screamed inside of her head. What are you doing, going against Renamon's wishes like that? As she looked ahead, she pulled away from every emotion she felt except betrayal for Renamon. "What the heck?" She cried and slowly backed out of the barrier of darkness, watching it intertwines and wrap around it once more. As soon as Rika had backed fully out of the circle, Rika took in a deep breath, as if swallowing every piece of detail around her. The breath seemed so large she almost choked on how much came in, but felt reassurance. She felt Renamon's presence behind her.  
  
"Rika, are you alright?" Renamon asked quickly, for she felt ashamed she let her tamer get in the line of danger. Rika just stood there, mouth gapped open slightly. Renamon looked concerned and turned to face Rika, face to face. "Rika, are you hurt?" Slowly afterwards, Rika shook her head. Renamon sighed with relief but never took her eyes off Rika. "Rika, talk to me." Renamon ordered softly.  
  
After a few moments, Rika replied.  
  
"I felt curiosity like I've never felt before. The enchantment just captivated my soul and took me along with it. As soon as I walked into the barrier, I felt the darkness, I was the darkness, it connected with me and I connected with it. I seemed trapped, I couldn't think, I couldn't do anything but move forward against my will." She said slowly, as if trying to remember every single detail. "As soon as I came out, it took my breath away and I needed to take a huge breath to get it all back."  
  
"Is there more?" Renamon asked.  
  
"I guess, if you consider the thought that I felt as if I was being pulled there, as soon as I got close to the barrier, I lost all control of my mind, I was trapped inside of my head, unable to do anything, say anything. It felt like I was in a trance."  
  
"It sure looked like it, from what I saw, it looked like you described exactly what I saw."  
  
"Rika!" Came Rika's voice, it seemed distant and Renamon turned to the source, but Rika kept her eyes straight forward, looking into her own different world. How is it connected and why do I feel so connected to it? "Rika, Renamon! What happened?" Rika shook her head furiously, getting rid of all the negative thoughts and questions inside of her heart and looked up to see her group, her friends, her small family of sorts. Leading the group were Henry and Takato, their hair trailing wildly behind them. Speaking of behind, in hot pursuit of the boys was Ryo and Suzi and tumbling all over the place in the back, was Kenta.  
  
"Hello, Takato, Henry."  
  
"Hello, Renamon." Henry and Takato seemed to choke out, they seemed out of breath and they all were breathing heavily. Kenta was breathing very quickly, but still had enough energy to straighten his glasses before he collapsed to the ground for some rest. Suzi was breathing hard as well, her face as red as ever.  
  
"What just happened here?" Ryo asked, his voice full of concern for his friend. Rika looked at the group and turned back to the chamber behind her, the whirlpool of darkness. As if to answer on cue, Renamon spoke a few words for Rika.  
  
"Well, it seems that it is harmful to us digimon and our tamers if we enter this chamber of darkness." As the group looked up at Renamon with suspicion, Cyberdramon landed beside Ryo while Guilmon was running over to Takato, followed by Terriermon and Lopmon and of course, little MarineAngemon.  
  
"Why is this harmful? It just looks like a circle of shadows to me." Terriermon explained. Renamon patiently answered his question.  
  
"Well, I can feel that it is going to be extremely difficult for all digimon to pass this barrier, no matter what we do, Bio-merge Digivolution or not. As for the humans, well, Rika can explain that one." Rika nodded, her strength had returned and she felt once more she could take on anything, it was the way she usually felt ever since her first encounter with digimon and this digital universe.  
  
"Like Renamon said, this is going to be hard for humans too." Rika started.  
  
"What do you mean?" Kenta asked.  
  
"I got close to the barrier and it seemed like all of these emotions were running all through me, giving me a burst of energy, but not for me to control. I went into a trance and went through this barrier." Rika said as she walked closer and reached out to it, enveloping herself into the trance once more. The group watched as her eyes went blank, like a sheet of ice.  
  
"This is amazing." Kenta said in awe, but was cut off by Ryo's glare.  
  
"This is reality, Rika you can come back now." Ryo said quickly. Rika didn't respond to his request, just walked further and further into the barrier. The group watched nervously as Rika came closer and closer to the end.  
  
"Rika, what are you doing?" Renamon shouted in despair and ran towards her partner in distress, but was repelled back like two magnets of the same pole. As soon as the barrier cleared on the other end, Rika walked slowly back out of the barrier, and just as before, took that huge breath and nearly choked, again. But just as suddenly as she took that breath, she walked back in.  
  
"What was that?" Suzi asked as soon as Rika walked back into the barrier.  
  
"What was what, the fact that Rika's trying to hurt herself?" Henry asked.  
  
"What was in front of her?" Suzi pointed to nothing, yet there was a low rumble behind the group of children. The group whirled around to see Guilmon growl again.  
  
"It's back." Takato whispered.  
  
"What's back, what's going on?" Kenta asked quickly with horror written all over his face. Suddenly, there was a hiss of electricity and everyone turned to see Rika. But this time she didn't come back, to the other side of the barrier, she walked right through.  
  
~A barrier is not what keeps us apart, but the choices we make.~ 


End file.
